A typical aircraft is clad with a thin skin, usually of aluminum, composite titanium, steel, or the like, fastened to a supporting frame. The supporting frame must be machined to receive fasteners securing the skin to the frame. However, inasmuch as the outer surface of an aircraft is typically rounded to reduce drag, machining the frame requires a specially formed template to aid in correctly positioning machining tools operating on the frame.
In prior manufacturing methods, shims are fastened to the frame prior to positioning the template over the frame. The shims serve as a temporary substitute for the skin and ensure that the template is properly aligned and offset from the frame, such that when the skin is put in place, apertures and the like machined in the frame will be aligned with apertures and other features formed in the skin.
In prior systems, the shims are fastened to the frame using adhesive tape. However, in a large scale mass manufacturing processes, the step of taping a number of shims to a frame member each time a member is drilled is time consuming and costly. Furthermore, the adhesive tape must be removed from the substructure and from the shim if it is to be reused, requiring additional time and labor. Thus, although desirable results have been achieved using such prior art systems and methods, there is room for improvement.